The Marvel Universe may be losing its star-spangled savior real soon. On a Monday morning appearance on TheEllen Degeneres Show, Chris Evans said he'll stop playing Captain America soon, albeit unwillingly. "My contract is up," Evans said. "I have Avengers3 and 4. We do three now and four in the latter part of the year and then after that, that is the end of my contract." Wait, does this mean Captain America could be killed off in Avengers 4? Or, if Steve Rogers is to be slain in the final Avengers chapter, could the shield be taken up by someone else?

There's enough evidence in the comics that suggests this could happen, which is to say that Captain America does die at the end of the Civil War saga. He's assassinated at the hands of a brainwashed Sharon Carter via the orders of Red Skull. Steve leaves a note to Tony Stark saying that the Captain America mantle should go on, and as such Bucky ends up filling the role of Captain America on Tony's suggestion. So how plausible is this in the Marvel movie universe?

Well, obviously the Cap escaped the film variant of Civil War unscathed (or at least, like, not dead), but it isn't crazy to think that the ending of the last Avengers could pencil in a Captain America death. From a narrative perspective, it would add a definite emotional weight to the film for the team to lose the first American hero. And as far as logistics go, Sebastian Stan AKA cinema's Bucky Barnes has a longer contract than Evans does right now. He could very easily fulfill that destiny.

Of course, contracts aside, this doesn't necessarily means Rogers is giving up just yet. The actor was more than open to making a few more movies as the super soldier, as he told Collider back in March. Recognizing that it was easy to stick around so long as the company was churning up quality films, Evans said that his expiring contract was the only reason he'd give up playing Captain America:

"Talk To Marvel. If we engage further, I’d be open to it. I love the character. It’s almost like high school. You certainly always look to senior year, and then, all of a sudden, senior year happens and you’re like, ‘I don’t know if I’m ready to go.’ It’s tough thinking about not playing the guy"

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Undoubtedly the franchise would greatly miss Evans, but I guess it's important that we prepare for the worst... to come in approximately May 2019 when the final Avengers installment hits theaters.